Information management system

ABSTRACT

According to an embodiment, an information management system includes a storing unit and an information transfer unit. The storing unit includes a production management database, an electronic document database, and a progress information database. The production management database stores a work schedule. The electronic document database stores a work report. The progress information database stores progress information of work. An access authority is set for each of the plurality of databases. The information transfer unit transfers, among the plurality of databases, information stored in each of the databases. The information transfer unit transfers the work schedule from the production management database to the progress information database and a work result included in the work report from the electronic document database to the progress information database. The progress information is created using the transferred work schedule and the transferred work result and stored in the progress information database.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2016-181224, filed on Sep. 16, 2016;Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-051369, filed on Mar. 16, 2017; andJapanese Patent Application No. 2017-127708, filed on Jun. 29, 2017; theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate generally to an informationmanagement system.

BACKGROUND

When work such as installation or adjustment of an apparatus isperformed in a customer's place, an operator creates a report of thework. Information included in the report is shared with otherdepartments according to necessity.

In order to more efficiently perform the sharing of the information, itis desirable to electronically create a work report and store the workreport in a database on a unitarily managed server.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an informationmanagement system according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for describing the functions of the informationtransfer unit of the information management system according to thefirst embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an input screen for a work report stored inthe electronic document database of the information management systemaccording to the first embodiment;

FIGS. 4 to 6 are diagrams showing other input screens for work reportsstored in the electronic document database of the information managementsystem according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an input screen for a work report stored inthe electronic document database of the information management systemaccording to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another input screen for a work reportstored in the electronic document database of the information managementsystem according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of progress information createdby the progress-information creating unit 40 of the informationmanagement system according to the first embodiment;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are diagrams showing other examples of progressinformation created by the progress-information creating unit of theinformation management system according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an input supportsystem according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 13 is an example of an electronic document for installation workcreated using the input support system according to the secondembodiment;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for describing the operation of the input supportsystem according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an informationprocessing apparatus that realizes the input support system according tothe second embodiment; and

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for describing the operation of the informationmanagement system according to the first embodiment in which the inputsupport system according to the second embodiment is used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to an embodiment, an information management system includes astoring unit and an information transfer unit. The storing unit includesa production management database, an electronic document database, and aprogress information database. The production management database storesa work schedule. The electronic document database stores a work report.The progress information database stores progress information of work.An access authority for viewing or update is set for each of theplurality of databases. The information transfer unit transfers, amongthe plurality of databases, information stored in each of the databases.The information transfer unit transfers the work schedule from theproduction management database to the progress information database. Theinformation transfer unit transfers a work result included in the workreport from the electronic document database to the progress informationdatabase. The progress information is created using the transferred workschedule and the transferred work result and stored in the progressinformation database.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to thedrawings.

In the drawings and the specification of the application, componentssimilar to those described thereinabove are marked with like referencenumerals, and a detailed description is omitted as appropriate.

First Embodiment

An Information management system according to a first embodiment is asystem for efficiently performing management and sharing of information.The information concerns works such as Installation and adjustment of anapparatus in a site at a delivery destination.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an informationmanagement system 100 according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the information management system 100 according tothe first embodiment includes a storing unit 20, an access limiting unit30, an information transfer unit 35, a progress-information creatingunit 40, an inventory managing unit 45, and a notifying unit 50.

The components included in the information management system 100 areconnected to one another via a network 1. A plurality of terminals isconnected to the information management system 100 via the network 1. Inan example shown in FIG. 1, a terminal 10 of an on-site installationdepartment, a terminal 11 of a production/quality management department,a terminal 12 of a design department, a terminal 13 of a factorymanufacturing department, and a terminal 14 of a customer are connectedto the information management system 100.

The network 1 may be the Internet or may be a wired or wireless LAN(Local Area Network).

The terminals 10 to 14 may be tablets, smartphones, personal computers,or the like. Portable terminals such as tablets and smartphones aresuitably used by the on-site installation department that performs workoutside an office.

The storing unit 20 may be a file server, a network hard disk, or thelike.

The storing unit 20 includes a production management database 21, anelectronic document database 22, a progress information database 23, amanufacturing history database 24, and a customer information database25.

The production management database 21 stores, for example, informationconcerning a work place, a schedule of work, members used for the workand information concerning the members, an arrival schedule of themembers, and an assembly schedule of a sub-apparatus (a semi-finishedproduct) assembled using the members.

A work schedule is created for work of each site. The work may concerninstallation, assembly, adjustment, or the like of apparatuses. Workschedules include information such as more specific and detailed worknames, dates when work is performed, man-hours of the work, andpersonnel allocated to the work.

The electronic document database 22 stores, for example, a work reportcreated by an operator in a work site and information concerning theoperator.

The work report includes a work result (completed work and a time periodrequired for the work), the number of working people, problems, andmembers used in the work.

The progress information database 23 stores progress information ofwork. The progress information can be stored in various forms. Theprogress information includes, for example, comparison of a workschedule and a result in any period such as one day or one week. Whenwork for the same types of apparatuses is performed in a plurality ofplaces, the progress information includes comparison of progresses amongwork sites and comparison with progresses of similar kinds of work inthe past.

The manufacturing history database 24 stores information such as anarrival result of members used for work, the numbers of stocks of themembers, an assembly result of the members, and an assembly result of asub-apparatus.

The customer information database 25 stores information such as a placewhere work is performed, detailed dimensions and a detailed area of awork site, and an apparatus already introduced into the work site.

The access limiting unit 30 sets, for departments, an access authorityfor viewing or updating the databases stored in the storing unit 20. Theaccess authority is set for the departments by, for example, amanagement department. The access authority may be further set for theinformation stored in the databases according to scopes ofresponsibilities of persons in charge.

The information transfer unit 35 transfers, among the databases,specific information stored in the databases.

The progress-information creating unit 40 creates progress informationof work and stores the progress information in the progress informationdatabase 23.

Detailed functions of the information transfer unit 35 and theprogress-information creating unit 40 are described below.

The inventory managing unit 45 calculates the numbers of stocks ofmembers from first result data and second result data. The first resultdata includes the arrival results of the members stored in themanufacturing history database 24. The second result data includes useresults of the members included in the work report stored in theelectronic document database 22. The inventory managing unit 45 updatesthe numbers of stocks stored in the manufacturing history database 24based on the calculation result.

The notifying unit 50 outputs a notification when information that needsto be notified to related departments is included in the work report.Alternatively, when information that needs to be notified to relateddepartments is obtained from comparison of the information included inthe work report and the information stored in the databases, thenotifying unit 50 outputs a notification together with the information.

The notifying unit 50 includes, for example, information concerningnotification destinations of the departments and the persons in charge.The notifying unit 50 automatically determines a department and a personin charge at a distribution destination corresponding to a type of anotification and issues the notification. The notification is performedby a mail, popup on terminal screens of the persons in charge, or thelike.

Functions of the information transfer unit 35 are described in detailwith reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for describing the functions of the informationtransfer unit 35 of the information management system 100 according tothe first embodiment.

In an example shown in FIG. 2, the terminal 11 of the production/qualitymanagement department can access all of the databases. The accessauthority is set for the terminal 10 of the on-site installationdepartment to enable the terminal 10 to access only the electronicdocument database 22, the progress information database 23, and themanufacturing history database 24.

The terminal 13 of the factory manufacturing department can access onlythe production management database 21, the electronic document database22, and the manufacturing history database 24. The access authority isset for the terminal 12 of the design department to enable the terminal12 to access only the electronic document database 22, the progressinformation database 23, the manufacturing history database 24, and thecustomer information database 25.

The access authority is set for the terminal 14 of the customer on theoutside to enable the terminal 14 to access only at least a part ofinformation of the progress information database 23.

The setting of the access authority is necessary for maintenance ofsecurity but is likely to hinder sharing of information.

Specifically, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the terminal 10 of theon-site installation department can access the electronic documentdatabase 22 but cannot access the production management database 21.Therefore, people in the on-site installation department cannot confirma work schedule, progress of a result of a work report with respect tothe work schedule, and the like of the production management database21.

In the information management system 100 of the first embodiment, thework schedule in the production management database 21 is transferred tothe progress information database 23 by the information transfer unit35. Further, a work result included in the work report in the electronicdocument database 22 is extracted and transferred to the progressinformation database 23 by the information transfer unit 35.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the work schedule in the productionmanagement database 21 is transferred to the progress informationdatabase 23 through the electronic document database 22 by theinformation transfer unit 35. The work schedule may be directlytransferred from the production management database 21 to the progressinformation database 23 by the information transfer unit 35. Similarly,when information is transferred from a certain database to anotherdatabase by the information transfer unit 35, the information may bedirectly transferred between the databases or may be transferred viaanother database.

The on-site installation department cannot access the productionmanagement database 21. However, according to the first embodiment, theon-site installation department is capable of obtaining progressinformation by confirming the information transferred to the progressinformation database 23 by the information transfer unit 35.

The progress information may be created by a user of the informationmanagement system 100. The progress information is created based on thetransferred work schedule and the transferred work result. The progressinformation is stored in the progress information database 23.Alternatively, the progress information may be automatically created bythe progress-information creating unit 40 using the transferred workschedule and the transferred work result and stored in the progressinformation database 23.

According to the embodiment, when the work report is uploaded to theelectronic document database 22, information necessary for therespective departments is transferred among the databases by theinformation transfer unit 35.

Consequently, the respective departments are capable of viewing andupdating the necessary information. As a result, it is possible toefficiently share the information while maintaining security.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the terminal 14 of the customer is sometimesconnected to the information management system 100. In this case, it isalso possible to selectively transfer, with the information transferunit 35, to a predetermined database, only information that should bepresented to customers or information that can be presented to thecustomers.

With such a configuration, the customers can check the information asappropriate by themselves. Thereby, for example, it is possible to savetime for confirming the information with a company that is performingwork. Since the company that is performing work need not to confirmingthe information requested from the customers and need not to prepare andpresent materials concerning the information, the company can also savetime. Consequently, according to the first embodiment, for both of thecustomers and the company, it is possible to efficiently share theinformation concerning the work.

A work report stored in the electronic document database 22 isspecifically described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6.

In FIGS. 3 to 6, as an example, an input screen for a work report at thetime when installation work of a paper sheet sorting device is performedis shown.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an input screen for a work report stored inthe electronic document database 22 of the information management system100 according to the first embodiment.

FIGS. 4 to 6 are diagrams showing other input screens for work reportsstored in the electronic document database 22 of the informationmanagement system 100 according to the first embodiment.

On the input screen shown in FIG. 3, management information of work anda general situation of progress are input. First, the operator inputsmanagement information such as a delivery destination office name and aninstallation place name. The operator inputs, for example every day,information concerning apparatuses for which installation is completed.

An office name (a name of a site), an installation place name (a placeof the site), and the like are, for example, automatically input. Whenthe work report shown in FIG. 3 is input, these kinds of information aretransferred from the customer information database 25 to the electronicdocument database 22 by the information transfer unit 35.

In the input screen shown in FIG. 4, the operator inputs a more specificprogress state of installation work. The operator inputs, with respectto specific kinds of work in processes, start times and end times of thespecific kinds of work and, when the specific kinds of work arecompleted, checks the specific kinds of work. The input screen shown inFIG. 4 is automatically created by, for example, referring to workincluded in a schedule in the production management database 21.

Predicted man-hours are set in advance for the processes shown in FIG.4. The man-hours are, for example, automatically input in associationwith data registered in the schedule in the production managementdatabase 21.

Concerning the work report shown in FIG. 4, time periods in which kindsof work are actually performed are calculated from the start times andthe end times of the processes.

The progress-information creating unit 40 calculates, for example, adifference between the work time periods and the man-hours. Concerningall the processes for which the kinds of work are completed, theprogress-information creating unit 40 extracts, from a total of the worktime periods and a total of the man-hours, as progress information, adegree of excess or deficiency that occurs in the man-hours.

Alternatively, the progress-information creating unit 40 compares thecompleted and checked processes and implementation scheduled dates ofthe processes included in the kinds of work in the work schedule. Theprogress-information creating unit 40 creates, on the basis of a resultof the comparison, progress information indicating whether a work resultis ahead of or behind the schedule.

Alternatively, when the same kinds of work are performed in a pluralityof places, the progress-information creating unit 40 can compare workreports of the same kinds of work and, for example, compare progressstates.

In this way, the progress-information creating unit 40 can create theprogress information in various forms.

When the progress is behind the schedule, for example, the notifyingunit 50 issues a notification to the design department, theproduction/quality management department, and the like. Since thenotification is issued from the notifying unit 50, the relateddepartments can quickly grasp the delay of the work with respect to theschedule and take measures against the delay early.

On the input screen shown in FIG. 5, the operator records problems andthe like that occur during the installation work. The operator inputsdates of occurrence and contents of the problems, measures against theproblems, and the like and uploads the dates of occurrence and contentsof the problems, the measures against the problems, and the like to theelectronic document database 22. Consequently, for example, other groupsthat are performing the same installation work can immediately grasp theproblems.

When a problem is due to a deficiency in design such as the structure,the shape, the dimension, or the like of a member, the design departmentcan quickly confirm content of the problem and reflect the content ofthe problem on subsequent design jobs. Alternatively, when a problem isdue to abnormality of a member such as an operation failure, the factorymanufacturing department can quickly confirm content of the problem toconfirm members being manufactured and improve the members.

The input screen shown in FIG. 5 may be configured to enable inputs of atype of a problem, a member in which abnormality is found, and the like.In this case, the notifying unit 50 can compare information concerningthe type of the problem and the member with the information concerningthe members in the production management database 21 and selectivelyissue a notification to departments related to the member. At this time,the notifying unit 50 may display the information concerning the targetmember on terminals of the related departments simultaneously withissuing the notification.

With such a configuration, the departments related to the problem canmore smoothly grasp the problem and take measures.

On the input screen shown in FIG. 6, the operator inputs a result and ameasurement confirmation of current measurement of an installedapparatus. Determination for the measurement result is automaticallyinput by, for example, comparing a recommended current value and ameasured value. When the work report shown in FIG. 6 is uploaded, thenotifying unit 50 may notify information concerning items determined as“denied” to the related departments.

Examples of input screens for work reports concerning installation,adjustment, and the like of related apparatus in an electronic chargecollection system of an expressway are described with reference to FIGS.7 and 8.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an input screen for a work report stored inthe electronic document database 22 of the information management system100 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another input screen for a work reportstored in the electronic document database 22 of the informationmanagement system 100 according to the first embodiment.

In FIG. 7, for example, specific kinds of work involved in installationof a toll gate are listed. As in the input screen shown in FIG. 4, theoperator inputs start times, end times, required time periods, and thenumbers of working people for the kinds of work. Work man-hours areautomatically inputs from products of the required time periods and thenumbers of working people. The required time periods may beautomatically calculated from the start times and the end times andinput.

Under the specific kinds of work, input fields of special reports areprovided. The operator inputs work in which a problem occurs,improvements that the operator notices during work, or the like togetherwith a number of the work. Under the special reports, a field forinputting work additionally performed other than scheduled work isprovided.

As described concerning the input screen shown in FIG. 5, for a case inwhich a problem occurs in work, the input screen shown in FIG. 7 may beconfigured to enable inputs of a type of the problem, a member or anapparatus in which the problem occurs, and the like.

In the work report shown in FIG. 7, when all items of the kinds of workare input, the work can be treated as having been completed. Theprogress-information creating unit 40 creates progress information fromthe information input to the work report shown in FIG. 7 and the workschedule in the production management database 21 and stores theprogress information in the progress information database 23.

On the input screen shown in FIG. 8, the operator inputs an apparatus tobe adjusted, a name and a manufacturing number of a member (asub-apparatus) used for adjustment work, an adjustment implementationdate, and a person in charge. The work report includes actually usedapparatuses and the number of the used apparatuses.

The inventory managing unit 45 calculates latest numbers of stocks ofmembers in a factory or the like from the arrival result of the membersstored in the manufacturing history database 24 and the work reportshown in FIG. 8. The inventory managing unit 45 updates the inventoryinformation in the manufacturing history database 24 on the basis of aresult of the calculation.

When the members are shipped from the factory or the like to a worksite, it is also possible to confirm the numbers of shipped members andupdate the numbers of stocks. However, depending on work, the work iscompleted without using the members sent to the site. Therefore, it isdesirable to input the members actually used in the site and the numbersof the members to the work report and calculate and update the numbersof stocks from the input information. Consequently, it is possible tostore more accurate numbers of stocks in the manufacturing historydatabase 24 on a real-time basis. As a result, it is possible tosuppress excess and deficiency of stocks and perform more efficientinventory management.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8, the work reportsinput by the operator on the site and uploaded to the electronicdocument database 22 include various kinds of information concerning thework. In the information management system 100 according to the firstembodiment, predetermined information included in the work reports isutilized by the information transfer unit 35, the progress-informationcreating unit 40, the inventory managing unit 45, the notifying unit 50,and the like. Consequently, it is possible to perform timely informationsharing and efficient utilization of information while maintainingsecurity.

Examples of progress information created from work results included inthe work reports by the progress-information creating unit 40 isdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11. In FIGS. 9 to 11, examples ofprogress information concerning the installation of the toll gatedescribed with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 are shown.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of progress information createdby the progress-information creating unit 40 of the informationmanagement system 100 according to the first embodiment.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are diagrams showing other examples of progressinformation created by the progress-information creating unit 40 of theinformation management system 100 according to the first embodiment.

In a graph of FIG. 9, progress states in a plurality of work places areshown in units of one day. Toll gates where work is performed are shownin rows. Dates are shown in columns. In the respective rows, marksindicating that work is scheduled are shown in upper parts. Under themarks, marks indicating that the work is completed are shown.

By creating the graph, it is easy to confirm progress states in aplurality of sites and overlook and grasp an overall progress state.

In an upper table in FIG. 10, schedules and results for main work itemsand differences between the schedules and the results are shown in unitsof one month.

In a lower table in FIG. 10, a schedule and a result and a differencebetween the schedule and the result in a specific day and ratios ofresults to schedules are shown.

By representing the progress states using numerical values in a tableformat in this way, it is possible to more quantitatively confirm andevaluate the progress states.

In a graph in FIG. 11, the horizontal axis represents a date, thevertical axis on the left side represents a man-hour per one day, andthe vertical axis on the right side represents a total man-hour. In thegraph in FIG. 11, a schedule and a result per one day and cumulativevalues of for one month of values of the schedule and the result areshown.

By creating the graph, it is possible to perform comparison andexamination of schedules and results for one work site in a longer termviewpoint.

As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the progress-information creating unit 40 iscapable of creating progress information in various formats.

By enabling customers to view the information created by theprogress-information creating unit 40, the customers can select andconfirm, by themselves, progress information that the customers want toknow. Therefore, it is unnecessary to, for example, inquire a company,which performs work, about the progress information.

As described above, with the information management system 100 accordingto the first embodiment, according to the transfer of the information bythe information transfer unit 35, it is possible to share theinformation while maintaining security.

The progress information shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 may be created by aperson in charge who can access at least the progress informationdatabase 23. The information management system 100 may include theprogress-information creating unit 40 and automatically create theprogress information. Consequently, it is possible to improveconvenience of use of the system.

A person may perform notification and the like based on fluctuation inthe numbers of stocks of members involved in work on a site andinformation included in a work report. However, since these actions arerespectively automatically performed by the inventory managing unit 45and the notifying unit 50, it is possible to improve convenience of useof the system. Further, it is possible to more efficiently utilizeshared information.

Second Embodiment

An input support system 2 according to a second embodiment is describedbelow. The input support system 2 is used in inputting an electronicdocument by voice. The electronic document includes a work reportconcerning installation work of an apparatus. The installation workindicates work for installing a relatively heavy apparatus, which iscarried in using a truck or the like, in a predetermined place toexhibit functions of the apparatus and fixing the apparatus not to move.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the inputsupport system 2 according to the second embodiment.

Voice is input to a voice input unit 200 by a user (an operator whoperforms the installation work). The voice input to the voice input unit200 is converted into information (an electric signal) and input to avoice recognizing unit 201. The voice recognizing unit 201 performsrecognition of voice information. The voice recognizing unit 201 mayrefer an acoustic database 210 and a word database 211 described belowwhile recognizing the voice information.

The acoustic database 210 stores characteristics in phoneme units suchas “a”, “i”, and “u”. The acoustic database 210 further storesinformation concerning correspondence between rows of phonemes andwords. The phonemes include waveforms peculiar to the phonemes. Thevoice recognizing unit 201 compares waveforms included in input voiceinformation and the characteristics of the phonemes stored in theacoustic database 210. The voice recognizing unit 201 recognizes thephonemes included in the voice information on the basis of a result ofthe comparison.

The word database 211 stores characteristics concerning arrangement ofwords. As an example, “Installation” and “work” are connected in thisorder and are not connected in the opposite order. The word database 211stores statistical information concerning such arrangement of words. Thevoice recognizing unit 201 estimates a word from a set of phonemesincluded in the voice information. The voice recognizing unit 201estimates character information corresponding to the voice informationwhile referring to the characteristics concerning arrangement of wordsstored in the word database 211.

The voice recognizing unit 201 is described below. The voice recognizingunit 201 may recognize the voice information further referring to alearning database 212, a dictionary database 213, and an operatordatabase 214.

The learning database 212 stores words and sentences included incharacter information that is output in the input support system 2 inthe past. When the character information generated by the voicerecognizing unit 201 is approved, deleted, or changed by the operator,the learning database 212 stores the process and the result of theapproval, the deletion, or the change. Since the voice recognizing unit201 performs the voice recognition referring to the learning database212, it is easier to perform voice recognition conforming to anintention of the operator in the installation site.

The dictionary database 213 stores association of specific characterstrings. As an example, “installation work site” is registered withrespect to “site”. In this case, when recognizing that “site” isincluded in the voice information, the voice recognizing unit 201estimates this character string as “installation work site”. Ininstallation work, in some case, unique words are used or words areabbreviated and used. Therefore, by registering the words in thedictionary database 213 in advance, it is easier to perform the voicerecognition conforming to the intention of the operator.

The operator database 214 stores characteristics of voices of operatorswho perform installation work. For example, the voices of the operatorsare input through the voice input unit 200 beforehand and feature valuesof the voices of the operators are extracted. The operator database 214stores the feature values. Waveforms of voices are different dependingon speakers. There are tendencies peculiar to the respective speakers.Therefore, since the voice recognizing unit 201 recognizes the voiceinformation referring to the feature values of voices of the operators,it is possible to more accurately recognize voices of utteringoperators.

The voice recognizing unit 201 performs the voice recognition whilereferring to the databases described above as appropriate. Content ofthe voice recognition by the voice recognizing unit 201 is input to anintention understanding unit 202.

The intention understanding unit 202 understands (estimates) anintention of the operator included in the recognized content of thevoice. The intention understanding unit 202 refers to an analysisinformation database 215 described below and corrects the recognizedcontent of the voice to conform to the intention of the operator. At thesame time, the intention understanding unit 202 determines whether inputvoice intends an output of characters to an electronic document orintends execution of other operation. During the determination, theintention understanding unit 202 refers to a keyword database 216 and adocument information database 217.

The analysis information database 215 stores information necessary formorpheme analysis processing, syntax analysis processing, and semanticanalysis processing executed by the intention understanding unit 202. Inthe morpheme analysis processing, the intention analyzing unit 202segments a sentence into morphemes, which are minimum units. In thesyntax analysis, the intention understanding unit 202 recognizes partsof speech of the segmented morphemes. In the syntax analysis, theintention understanding unit 202 analyzes the structure of a sentencesuch as a phrase sentence structure on the basis of grammar rules. Inthe semantic analysis, the intention understanding unit 202 synthesizes,on the basis of semantics (concepts) of words in a sentence, a semanticrelation between words, and the like, a semantic sentence structurerepresenting a meaning conveyed by the sentence.

The keyword database 216 stores keywords corresponding to various kindsof processing concerning an electronic document. As an example,processing for “saving an electronic document being created” isassociated with a keyword “save”. “Save” is included in the recognizedcontent of the voice input to the intention understanding unit 202. Inthis case, in a process of intention understanding, the intentionunderstanding unit 202 determines whether the operator intends to “savean electronic document being created” or intends to output a characterstring “save” onto an electronic document.

The document information database 217 stores information such asfunctions of various electronic documents and item names included in theelectronic documents. By referring to the document information database217, the intention understanding unit 202 is capable of more accuratelydetermine whether the operator intends to operate an electronic documentor intends to output characters to an electronic document.

As an example, the intention understanding unit 202 determines that theoperator intends to cause the input support system 2 to execute specificprocessing. In this case, the intention understanding unit 202 outputsan execution request (an event) of the processing to a processingexecuting unit 203. The processing executing unit 203 executesprocessing corresponding to a keyword according to the event output fromthe intention understanding unit 202.

As another example, as a result of the intention understanding in theintention understanding unit 202, the intention understanding unit 202determines that the operator intends to output character information tothe electronic document. In this case, the intention understanding unit202 corrects the recognized content of the voice to conform to theintention of the operator and outputs the recognized content to acharacter output unit 204. The character output unit 204 generatescharacter information on the basis of the recognized content output fromthe intention understanding unit 202 and outputs the characterinformation to a predetermined item of the electronic document. Theelectronic document, to which the character information is output, isdesignated in advance by the operator before voice is input. At thistime, the character output unit 204 may output the characterinformation, which is output to the electronic document, to a voicesynthesizing unit 205.

The voice synthesizing unit 205 generates synthesized voicecorresponding to the character information. The voice generated by thevoice synthesizing unit 205 is output by a voice output unit 206.Consequently, the operator can confirm, with the voice, the characterinformation output to the electronic document. The voice synthesizingunit 205 may generate synthesized voice for communicating to theoperator, for example, when the processing executing unit 203 executes aprocessing. The voice may be output from the voice output unit 206.

When the intention understanding unit 202 attempts the intentionunderstanding but cannot sufficiently estimate an intention of theoperator, the intention understanding unit 202 may output characterinformation indicating insufficient information to the voicesynthesizing unit 205. In this case, for example, a question forsupplementing the insufficient information is output from the voiceoutput unit 206 to the operator. In response to the question output fromthe voice output unit 206, the operator responds to the voice input unit200 by voice. Consequently, the voice recognizing unit 201 and theintention understanding unit 202 perform the recognition of the voiceand the intention understanding again.

In the above explanation, the input support system 2 includes theintention understanding unit 202. The input support system 2 does nothave to include the intention understanding unit 202. In this case, thecharacter output unit 204 generates character information on the basisof content of voice recognition by the voice recognizing unit 201. Thevoice recognizing unit 201 refers to the keyword database 216 and thedocument information database 217 as appropriate. When a keyword isincluded in the input voice, the voice recognizing unit 201 outputs, tothe processing executing unit 203, an event of processing correspondingto the keyword. However, in order to realize the voice recognitionconforming to the intention of the operator, the input support system 2desirably include the intention understanding unit 202.

FIG. 13 is an example of an electronic document for installation workcreated using the input support system 2 according to the secondembodiment.

For example, an item name of the electronic document for theinstallation work is read aloud from the voice output unit 206 of theinput support system 2. The operator utters, to the voice input unit200, a matter written in a field corresponding to the item name. Whenthe operator utters, character information is output to predeterminedfield of the electronic document by the voice recognizing unit 201, theintention understanding unit 202, and the character output unit 204. Inthis way, the read-aloud of an item name by the voice output unit 206and the utterance to the voice input unit 200 are repeated, whereby theelectronic document is created.

A notifying unit 207 may be provided that, when the various kinds ofprocessing concerning the electronic document are executed, notifies aterminal registered in advance to that effect. Since the notifying unit207 is provided, for example, when an electronic document is created bya voice input and uploaded to a server according to an instruction basedon voice, a related person can immediately learn to that effect.

An information processing method executed by the input support system 2is described with reference to FIG. 14.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for describing the operation of the input supportsystem 2 according to the second embodiment.

The operator utters (step S1). Voice of the utterance is input to thevoice input unit 200 (step S2). The voice recognizing unit 201 performsrecognition of information concerning the input voice (step S3). Theintention understanding unit 202 performs understanding of an intentionof the operator (step S4). In steps S3 and S4, the databases shown inFIG. 12 may be referred to.

When the intention understanding is completed, a result of the intentionunderstanding is reflected on the recognized content and the recognizedcontent of the voice is determined (step S5). As a result of the voicerecognition, it is determined whether an execution request (an event)for specific processing is present (step S6). When an event is absent,the character output unit 204 generates character information based onthe recognized content of the voice and outputs the characterinformation to an electronic document (step S7). The output characterinformation is output as voice according to necessity (step S8).

When an event is present in step S6, the processing executing unit 203executes specific processing corresponding to the event (step S9).According to necessity, the notifying unit 207 notifies a predeterminedtransmission destination that the processing is executed (step S10).

A hardware configuration for realizing the input support system 2according to the second embodiment is described with reference to FIG.15.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an informationprocessing apparatus 3 that realizes the input support system 2according to the second embodiment.

The information processing apparatus 3 includes, for example, a terminal310 and a server 320 connected to the terminal 310 via a communicationline.

The terminal 310 includes a microphone 311 functioning as the voiceinput unit 200 and an earphone 312 functioning as the voice output unit206. The microphone 311 and the earphone 312 are connected to theterminal 310 via wireless communication such as the Bluetooth(registered trademark). The terminal 310 transmits voice informationobtained by the microphone 311 to the server 320. The earphone 312outputs, as sound, the voice information transmitted from the server 320to the terminal 310.

The server 320 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 321, aRAM (Random Access Memory) 322, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 323, anda HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 324. The ROM 321 has stored therein a computerprogram for controlling the operation of the server 320. The ROM 321 hasstored therein computer programs necessary for causing the server 320 tofunction as the voice recognizing unit 201, the intention understandingunit 202, the processing executing unit 203, the character output unit204, the voice synthesizing unit 205, and the notifying unit 207 shownin FIG. 12.

The RAM 322 functions as a storage region in which the computer programsstored in the ROM 321 are developed. The CPU 323 reads the controlprogram stored in the ROM 321 and controls the operation of the server320 according to the control program. The CPU 323 develops various dataobtained by the operation of the server 320 in the RAM 322. The HDD 324has stored therein the databases 210 to 217 shown in FIG. 12. Whenprocessing is executed in the CPU 323, the databases stored in the HDD324 are referred to as appropriate.

In the above explanation, the functions of the input support system 2are realized by the terminal 310 and the server 320. However, thefunctions of the input support system 2 may be realized by only theterminal 310.

Effects of the invention according to the second embodiment aredescribed. The input support system 2 according to the second embodimentincludes the voice input unit 200, the voice recognizing unit 201, andthe character output unit 204. The operator utters, to the voice inputunit 200, input content to an electronic document concerninginstallation work. Consequently, voice of the utterance is recognized bythe voice recognizing unit 201. Character information based on therecognized content of the voice is output to the electronic document bythe character output unit 204. That is, with the input support system 2,the operator is capable of performing input to the electronic documentwithout operating a keyboard, a touch panel, or the like with a hand.

Therefore, by using the input support system 2 according to the secondembodiment, for example, the operator can perform input work to theelectronic document by voice while performing manual work. As a result,it is possible to reduce substantial time necessary for creation of theelectronic document.

In the voice recognition by the voice recognizing unit 201, it isdesirable that the acoustic database 210, the word database 211, and thelearning database 212 are referred to. Since the voice recognizing unit201 performs the voice recognition referring to the databases, it ispossible to improve accuracy of recognition.

In a site of the installation work, noise due to electric tools, trucks,cranes, and the like is large and there are a lot of conversations,shouts, and the like of operators. Therefore, it is sometimes hard torecognize voice emitted to the voice input unit 200. Since the voicerecognizing unit 201 refers to the characteristics of the voices of theoperators stored in the operator database 214, it is possible to morehighly accurately recognize the voice of the operator uttered to thevoice input unit 200.

Further, since the input support system 2 includes the processingexecuting unit 203 and the keyword database 216, the operator is capableof performing, by voice, operation other than the output of thecharacter information to the electronic document. It is possible toperform, by voice, various kinds of processing such as saving of theelectronic document to which the character information is output, uploadof the electronic document, creation of which is completed, andtransmission of the electronic document to related people. Therefore, itis possible to reduce time required for processing concerning theelectronic document.

The input support system 2 further includes the notifying unit 207. Whenthe processing concerning the electronic document is executed, thenotifying unit 207 notifies a predetermined transmission destination tothat effect. Therefore, it is possible to quickly communicateinformation to related people. For example, in the installation work,various documents such as a report are created. The report may informthat a deficiency of an apparatus to be installed occurs and a report towhich progress information of the operators is input. Since theprocessing concerning the electronic documents is notified to therelated people, it is possible to more efficiently perform theinstallation work and work incidental to the installation work.

The microphone functioning as the voice input unit 200 and the earphonefunctioning as the voice output unit 206 are connectable to a terminalvia wireless communication. Therefore, the operator can perform input tothe electronic document by uttering to the voice input unit 200 in aplace apart from the terminal. The operator does not need to move to theterminal to create the electronic document.

The information management system 100 according to the first embodimentcan be used in combination with the input support system 2 according tothe second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for describing the operation of the informationmanagement system 100 according to the first embodiment in which theinput support system 2 according to the second embodiment is used.

In the installation work, the information management system 100 createsan electronic document using the input support system 2 (step S11). Theelectronic document includes a work report. The electronic document isstored in the electronic document database 22 (step S12). When theelectronic document is stored in the electronic document database 22,the information transfer unit 35 extracts a work result from theelectronic document (step S13). The information transfer unit 35transfers the extracted work result to the progress information database23 (step S14).

By combining the first embodiment and the second embodiment, it ispossible to efficiently create an electronic document. A part ofinformation included in the created electronic document is automaticallyextracted and transferred to the other databases. Therefore, it ispossible to perform efficient creation of the electronic document,efficient sharing of information, and maintenance of security.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described hereinmay be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodimentsdescribed herein may be made without departing from the spirit of theinventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intendedto cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope andspirit of the invention. Moreover, above-mentioned embodiments can becombined mutually and can be carried out.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information management system comprising: aninput support system for inputting, in installation work of anapparatus, an electronic document including a work report concerning theinstallation work by voice a production management database storing awork schedule; an electronic document database storing the work report;a progress information database storing progress information; and acomputer processor programmed to: set an access authority for viewing orupdating for each of the databases including: setting a first accessauthority to a first terminal so that the first terminal can access theproduction management database, the electronic document database, andthe progress information database; setting a second access authority toa second terminal so that the second terminal can access the progressinformation database and the electronic document database but cannotaccess the production management database; and setting a third accessauthority to a third terminal so that the third terminal can access theprogress information database but cannot access the productionmanagement database and the electronic document database, transfer,among the databases, information stored in each of the databasesincluding: transferring, in accordance with a storage of the work reportfrom the second terminal to the electronic document database, the workschedule from the production management database to the progressinformation database; and transferring a work result included in thework report from the electronic document database to the progressinformation database, create the progress information using thetransferred work schedule and the transferred work result, and store theprogress information in the progress information database, wherein theinput support system includes: a voice input unit to which voice isinput; and a computer processor programmed to: recognize the voice inputto the voice input unit, and output character information based onrecognized content of the voice to the electronic document, theelectronic document, to which the character information is output, isstored in the electronic document database, the computer processor ofthe input support system is programmed to understand an intentionincluded in the recognized content of the voice, the input supportsystem further includes an analysis information database in whichinformation necessary for morpheme analysis processing, syntax analysisprocessing, and semantic analysis processing executed in theunderstanding the intention is stored, the computer processor of theinput support system is programmed to: correct the recognized content ofthe voice to conform to the intention; and output the characterinformation based on the corrected the recognized content of the voiceto the electronic document, the computer processor of the input supportsystem is programmed to generate synthesized voice corresponding to thecharacter information, and the input support system further includes avoice output unit configured to output the synthesized voice.
 2. Theinformation management system according to claim 1, wherein the computerprocessor is programmed to: create the progress information using thetransferred work result and the transferred work schedule, and store theprogress information in the progress information database.
 3. Theinformation management system according to claim 1, wherein the computerprocessor is programmed to issue a notification to a predeterminedterminal when the work report includes first information concerningabnormality of a member.
 4. The information management system accordingto claim 1, wherein the computer processor is programmed to issue anotification to a predetermined terminal when the work report includessecond information concerning a deficiency in design of a member.
 5. Theinformation management system according to claim 1, further comprising amanufacturing history database in which an arrival result of a member isstored, wherein the computer processor is programmed to update inventoryinformation the member used for work, the work report includes a useresult of the member in the work, and the computer processor isprogrammed to update the inventory information of the member in themanufacturing history database using the arrival result and the useresult of the member.
 6. The information management system according toclaim 1, wherein the computer processor is programmed to transfer thirdinformation from the production management database to the electronicdocument database so as to input the third information to the workreport, and the third information includes a member used for work and aprocess included in the work.
 7. The information management systemaccording to claim 1, further comprising a customer information databasein which information concerning a site of a customer where work isperformed is stored, wherein the computer processor is programmed to,when the work report is input, transfer a name of the site and a placeof the site from the customer information database to the electronicdocument database so as to input the name of the site and the place ofthe site to the work report.
 8. The information management systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the progress information stored in theprogress information database is configured to be viewable from thethird terminal of a customer.
 9. The information management systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the input support system further includes:an acoustic database in which characteristics of phonemes are stored; aword database in which a characteristic of arrangement of words isstored; a dictionary database in which association of specific characterstrings is stored; a learning database in which words extracted from thecharacter information in the past are stored; and an operator databasein which characteristics of voices of respective operators are stored,and the computer processor of the input support system is programmed torecognize the voice referring to the word database, the acousticdatabase, the learning database, and the operator database.
 10. Theinformation management system according to claim 1, wherein the inputsupport system further includes a keyword database configured to store akeyword corresponding to processing concerning the electronic document;and the computer processor of the input support system is programmed toexecute the processing corresponding to the keyword included in thevoice.
 11. The information management system according to claim 10,wherein the computer processor of the input support system is programmedto, when the processing is executed, notify a predetermined transmissiondestination.